CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The last time Tracy McGrady visited Chicago
he received a warm welcome. This time the reception was quite
different.

McGrady and the Orlando Magic suffered an embarrassing 95-90
loss to the Chicago Bulls, who received 23 points Ron Mercer and
18 from rookie A.J. Guyton as they broke into the win column.

"Tonight I tried to be more aggressive and get to the basket,"
Mercer said. "With the way things have been going we had to play
harder and we did."

In the summer, McGrady was wooed as a free agent by the Bulls.
He visited Wrigley Field and was cheered loudly by the crowd
when he threw out the first pitch before a Chicago Cubs game.

But the 21-year-old swingman spurned the Bulls and followed
All-Star forward Grant Hill to Orlando. Booed loudly every time
he touched the ball tonight, McGrady had 21 points, six rebounds
and six assists for the Magic.

"Early, I heard a lot of cheers and boos," McGrady said. "But I
heard more of the boos than anything. It makes the game even
more interesting when that happens. You want to come into
someone's house like here and beat them though. I had a lot of
good looks early. The shots just didn't fall."

In free agency, the Bulls ended up settling for Mercer, who made
9-of-18 shots from the field and also grabbed 10 rebounds to
help the Bulls to a 58-41 advantage on the boards, including
22-16 on the offensive end.

"It's good to get a win, the guys feel good about it," Chicago
coach Tim Floyd said. "We got a big lift from A.J. Guyton off
the bench. The rebounding numbers jump out at you. We did a
good job there, it was our best effort."

Michael Ruffin had a career-high 18 rebounds and 2000 co-Rookie
of the Year Elton Brand added 13 boards. The pair made just
2-of-15 shots but sank 14-of-20 free throws.

Michael Doleac contributed 15 points and seven rebounds off the
bench and Darrell Armstrong added 13 and 12 assists for the
Magic, who have lost four of six.

Orlando chipped away at what was a 19-point deficit in the third
and closed to 82-79 when Doleac sank a 17-footer to cap an 8-1
burst with 4:23 remaining. Mercer answered with an 18-footer 37
seconds later.

Pat Garrity, who scored 14 points, missed a 3-pointer and after
getting the rebound Mercer sank a free throw to push the lead to
85-79 with just under three minutes left.

"I wasn't so worried about the hole we dug, but more about how
our offense was stuck," said Orlando coach Doc Rivers. "I
changed some things for the guys before the game and it wasn't
effective. I take that part of the blame for this loss. The
offensive rebounding was the big difference. It's been a major
concern of ours all year."

Doleac and Mercer traded baskets before McGrady's jumper cut
Chicago's lead to 87-83 with 1:54 to play. After Mercer missed
a shot, the Magic had a chance to close within two but Bo Outlaw
was called for traveling.

Fred Hoiberg hit a jumper in the paint -- his only basket of the
game -- to give Chicago an 89-83 lead with 1:18 left. Garrity
and Armstrong each missed shots and Ruffin made one free throw
for a 90-83 lead with 30 seconds to go.

Ron Artest followed a jumper by Doleac with one free throw to
give Chicago a 91-85 edge with 21 seconds left. Mike Miller
made a short basket, but fellow rookie Khalid El-Amin responded
with a pair of free throws to give Chicago a 93-87 lead with 14
seconds to go.

McGrady sank a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 11
seconds left and Artest nailed two foul shots two seconds later.
Armstrong missed a long 3-pointer and Mercer grabbed the rebound
to seal Chicago's first win.